Sole

Armine Meghrouni of Anaheim is trying to locate shoe protectors that are made of a knit-nylon material and cover only the toes; also, they have a half-sole of foam padding. Can you be on your toes and help Meghrouni, or will she get wet feet and give up her sole-searching quest long before the shoe fits? Ever since Webb's department store closed, Anna Bishop of Glendale has been unable to find dress shirts or sport shirts with two pockets. (Her husband liked the Mr.

Lorenzo Semple Jr. was one of the hottest screenwriters in Hollywood in the 1970s and '80s, working on star-studded films such as "Papillon," with Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman; "Three Days of the Condor," headlined by Robert Redford; and "Never Say Never Again," Sean Connery's last movie as James Bond. But, rare in the trade, Semple didn't much mind if he was not the sole writer on a film. "Almost all the good scripts I've been involved in, I've been fired off of for one reason or another," he said in a 2011 video interview conducted by the Writers Guild Foundation.

We conclude our annual reviews with the Dodgers' enigmatic young outfielder, the one and only … YASIEL PUIG , 23, outfielder Final 2013 stats: .319, 19 home runs, 42 RBIs, 66 runs, .391 on-base and .534 slugging percentage. Contract status: Remains under contract for the next five years. The good: He was second on the team in batting average, runs, stolen bases (11), on-base and slugging percentages, third in home runs and fourth in hits - despite appearing in only 104 games.

The "gentleman" who recently tried, unsuccessfully, to convince the judge that he had a constitutional right to have sex on demand with or without his wife's consent forgot something not directly mentioned in The Times' Jan. 29 article. Sex is one of the world's greatest joint enterprises, quite surpassing the joys of sole proprietorship. HORACE GAIMS Los Angeles

Henley to Buy Manufacturer: Henley Group Inc. said it has agreed to purchase Wasserstein, Perella & Co.'s 50% interest in PA Holdings Corp. for about $165 million in cash. The transaction will make Henley the sole owner of PA Holdings, which primarily manufactures aircraft equipment and had about $1 billion in sales in 1988.

"Suburbia Gains an Accent" (Commentary, Dec. 28) aptly mirrors Glendale today. We settled here in the late '60s from the Philippines for Glendale's excellent school system. We might mention that the spouse of the sole Anglo member of our City Council hails from the Philippines. Phil Reamon Glendale

My condolences to Peter Farrelly. I have a friend living in the same building who witnessed the same incident. Her calls to 911 also were unanswered. As a schoolteacher, I emphatically inform my students about calling 911 in case of any emergency. We have been given one number to remember. Why can't this number be the sole source of reliable emergency assistance? AUDREY RICHARDS Hollywood

Defining "barefoot running" is easy: It's the act of running without shoes. But defining "barefoot running shoe" isn't so simple. Is it a sock-like second skin; a modernized moccasin; a stripped-down, minimalist version of a "normal" trainer designed to function as a bridge between shod running and barefooting; or a simply cushioned shoe that places your foot on a level plane from front to back to encourage a barefoot-like forefoot/midsole strike?...

With tears pouring off my face and agony in my chest, I read staff writer Duane Noriyuki and photographer Al Seib's excellent "A Swing and a Miss" (April 22). In addition to being Kevin York's story, it was my story--but with a key difference. I played Little League baseball one season when I was in the fourth grade. Despite hours spent at home trying to get wood to meet horsehide--even with the ball standing still on a tee or hanging from a string--I was hopelessly inept. Our coach played only the stars.

Authorities have identified the lone fatality from a tour bus crash in San Diego County on Thursday as a 64-year-old San Fernando Valley woman. Tayde Murguia of Van Nuys was killed and 19 people were injured -- six seriously -- when a bus en route to the Valley View Casino overturned on the rain-slicked, southbound Interstate 15 near Bonsall in northwest San Diego County, according to the California Highway Patrol. Several of the injured were taken to hospitals. Their conditions were not immediately known.

OK, Panthers, once more with feeling. For the second time in three weeks, the Carolina Panthers will face the New Orleans Saints in a high-stakes NFC South showdown that will go a long way toward bringing the playoff picture into focus. Hanging in the balance is sole possession of first place in the division, and a possible first-round bye in the postseason. The Panthers, who have won nine of 10 games, suffered a 31-13 defeat at New Orleans in Week 14 but got new life Sunday when the Saints lost at St. Louis, 27-16.

SAN FRANCISCO - After the deaths of two workers on BART tracks, the commuter rail system's directors Thursday permanently ended the practice of making employees on the tracks solely responsible for their own safety. The directors of Bay Area Rapid Transit approved a policy that will require train operators or drivers to slow to 25 mph and be prepared to stop when approaching workers on or near the tracks. The change, expected to cause delays in passenger service, is being made after the deaths Saturday of two workers inspecting tracks when a train hit them at 60 to 70 mph. They were working under a procedure called "simple approval" that gave them no warning of approaching trains and required one of them to act as a lookout.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Following the deaths of two BART workers, the commuter rail system's directors Thursday permanently ended the practice of making employees on the tracks solely responsible for their own safety . At a meeting, the directors of Bay Area Rapid Transit approved a new policy that will require train operators to slow and possibly stop before approaching areas where workers are on or near the tracks. The change, expected to cause delays in passenger service, follows the deaths Saturday of two workers doing repairs when a train hit them at 60 mph to 70 miles per hour.

WASHINGTON - The government shutdown and the debt limit have dominated the headlines, but a behind-the-scenes fight over federal mortgage policy has been brewing and it could affect your choices the next time you apply for a home loan. The issue concerns differing rules for different types of mortgage sources. Some mortgage brokerage firms have begun advertising that they offer substantial credits to their customers - often in the $2,000 to $5,000 range per loan but sometimes more than $10,000 - that can be used to defray borrowers' closing costs.

Michael Moses Ward, one of two survivors of the 1985 bombing of the militant group MOVE in a Philadelphia neighborhood and the only child to make it out alive, has died at 41. Ward died aboard a cruise ship in the Caribbean, according to the Brevard County, Fla., medical examiner's office. His body was found in a hot tub Friday, and he appeared to have drowned, investigator Craig Engelson said Wednesday. Ward was a 13-year-old boy known as Birdie Africa when Philadelphia police, trying to dislodge MOVE from its fortified urban compound, dropped explosives on the roof.

It was just another tragedy in family court. A young crack mother, desperate to conceal her pregnancy, had locked herself in a tenement bathroom and given birth to a three-pound boy. As she pushed, he fell to the floor and broke his skull. The mother abandoned him, like she had two previous babies. All were born addicted to crack. "Can we do anything about this woman?" asks Judge Judith Sheindlin, her voice taut with anger.

June 3, 1990 | Amy Wallace, Amy Wallace is a reporter for the San Diego edition of The Times.

EVERYBODY IN LA JOLLA knew the Brodericks. Daniel T. Broderick III and his wife, Betty, seemed to have a classic society-page marriage. Dan was a celebrity in local legal circles. Armed with degrees from both Harvard Law School and Cornell School of Medicine, the prominent malpractice attorney was aggressive, persuasive and cunning--a $1-million-a-year lawyer at the top of his game.

GALAXY AT D.C. UNITED When: 1 p.m. PDT. Where: RFK Stadium, Washington. On the air: TV: TWC SportsNet, UniMas; Radio: 1330. Records: Galaxy 13-10-4, D.C. United 3-19-5. Record vs. D.C. United (2012): 1-0-0. Update: This is the only regular-season game between the Galaxy and struggling D.C. United, which is last in Major League Soccer's Eastern Conference. The Galaxy won their sole meeting last season, 3-1, at StubHub Center.

Electoral authorities were counting ballots Saturday after tens of millions of Iranians turned out to vote for a successor to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the first presidential election since the disputed 2009 balloting led to street protests and a major crackdown on the opposition. Early returns indicated that Hassan Rowhani, a centrist cleric considered the sole moderate in the race, had jumped to a surprisingly large lead, garnering close to 50% of the vote, near the margin needed for victory.